This was a fun drawing,,, It was great to put Doug's NX into the space dock and have a new ship being built from the same class of Starship
cu view
assembling the bridge
- Here is a close up of all the service pods bringing in panels and devilish details to the ship for assembly
This one was the highlight of the whole episode!!! Alway a blast to have a new Klingon ship to work on! Soory but couldn't find the orthos or CG models of this one,,, I don't know if this was Rob's, Koji's, Lee's, or Pierre's, Will the real modeler please stand up!!!
Here is a cu of the bridge and neck also you can see the belly cannons in the shadows
Cu view of the engine pack,,, this sucker's electrical,
- this was an early delta ship concept for the opening credit sequence!!! Heavily based on the Venture Star from
Lockheed
TThe Expanse was a huge Episode full of new ships for both the Federation and the Klingon empire!!! this was a hard show to have a favorite drawing to work on because they were all a lot of fun!!! Making the Nx-02 was really grand as well as the Fed ships but I’ll probably have to say the BOP was my Favorite by a point or two!!!, I know somewhere The orthos exist as well as the models shots so I’ll keep looking,, My shed is full of all the art and photo’s from my big move and most boxes haven’t been unpacked yet. I need Indy’s whip and machete to cut thru the mess!!!! HAA!
Eavesdropping with Johnny 
Beautiful. What are the repro rights for your artwork? Because I think it’s safe to say, if you ever wanted to offer prints (signed ones!) you’d make a mint. Originals, even more so.
Awesome! I gather the last sketch would be an early design for the Orbiter in the credits?
Wow those are some absolutely sweet drawings ! The images made me try and do something at least similar to your work. Of course I can’t even compare to you but it sure did motivated me to be better at drawing ! You should post more of your own work because it has a really good impact on people. I wasn’t even aware how many people like Enterprise just because of what you did for the show. Personally I think you made the show a real sci-fi feast (at least for the eyes 🙂 ) and gave it a “soul” which I think other shows lack (both in designs and technical presentation. Now if only more episodes like “the Expanse” (and 3rd & 4th series overall) were made I’m sure you would be still working on new designs 😀
Oh and I forgot to add that the shuttle is really cool and I would like to see more of it ! (CGI or drawings it doesn’t matter).
When it comes to the klingon BoP I saw a bunch of images on the web – someone released official renders of the ship, even though they were not anti-aliased and were a bit grainy (I don’t know if the textures were so messy or was it the lighting setup … or the image compression …)
I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again, you’re REALLY spoiling us! I love drydock construction images. All that activity going on and detailing of the innards. Cool. 😀
And I agree with Lee, I’d buy prints of these any day.
Thank you, thank you, Jpearse!!!
Speaking of, are you bringing any ” goodies ” to Wonderfest
this year ? { hint,hint,nudge,nudge… }
yeah there will be lots of new stuff!
Your drawings beautifully capture a moment in time. I realize that that’s the intent, but most can’t pull it off as well as you. That last drawing of a US craft is interesting. What’s the background on that?
Thanks Don!!!!! the story is that it is a transition design from our current day technological future vs a future Star trek early ship history,, it is meant to be a loose tie in for design sake.
Man, I love the sketches! When I see them, I just to go out and model all of them.
Thanks again for the photos!
Awesome Joe!!! If you do you have to send over the links!
Wohoo what a great way to finish the working day. 🙂
I have to say that am really loving that picture of the NX-02 being built. If I had the cash I would by a signed print of that! Hell I would buy any of your work.
As with the others I am really liking that shuttle design. it looks like it could only be a few years down the road from now. I could really see Virgin Galactic having this as their second generation orbiter.
Thanks everybody!! I am getting my website done here soon and I’ll have a store page so if you really want some prints I’ll make some available.
John, is the Yankee the shuttle that we see in the intro to Enterprise? Seriously cool! I have a friend who is working on the Ares project for NASA and he showed me some designs for it a few years ago. I told him that I was a little disappointed that the designs didn’t look more like something we’d see in Star Trek. He laughed and said that as cool as it would be, some of it just can’t be done…yet. 😉 I know we’re supposed to be designing a new shuttle. You should send this design with Mike the next time he visits NASA!
That Klingon BoP is BA! I love the lighting effects that you incorporated into the drawing. It gives it a sort of ominous look while accenting the great features of the design! She’s got some teeth to her!
Love the action in the drydock drawings! The additions to the NX design are seriously sweet!
Thanks for posting the awesome pics, John. I love that early Bird of Prey even more than the original! Did you conceive it as having movable wings like the 23rd century BoP? (I don’t think we ever saw them in a different position in the show).
Also, is the Klingon D5 battlecruiser likely to be in your shed somewhere? 🙂 WOuld love to see some pics of that beastie! There are hardly any images of it around.
@ Matt Boardman:
Sadly, Ares with the Orion capsule are the only manned craft being designed by NASA right now. There is no replacement for the shuttle in the works.
Nice use of a Back to the Future quote. 😉
This is just some awesome artwork. I love the CGI version of the NX-02 being built. That’s one part I’ve paused and advanced a frame at a time to take in all the details. Your concept art for that part is breathtaking. I love all the little details you put in there. And that Klingon ships is amazing. I hope you find the orthos and model shots for that beauty.
BTW, do you know why they stopped using your cool Battlecruiser design from “Unexpected?” They used it in 1 episode and then it was no more. I really love that design, it’s a great homage to the TOS Kligon ship. I’m not saying I don’t like the other ships you guys did, they’re all really great, but I love that classic design.
Lot’s of good stuff from the Expanse the last couple of days. I like the drawing of the NX-02 in the space dock, cool! BTW, like the close look at the assembly drones in action (is that what they’re called?) and the placing of the nacelles.
John, while you’re at the Klingon stuff, is there any chance of seeing that small attack ship from the “Affliction” ? (the one that Klingon used to disable the Enterprise and upload a program that forced it to accelerate while at warp) It appeared only once and got just 2 or 3 short scenes but was a pretty cool design overall (of course if it’s not a kitbash which were pretty popular along single-episode ships)
was that the one with the escape pod???
Actually it was vessel listed on this page ( http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/schematics/klingon_ships.htm ) as “Augment” ship. You were probably thinking about the one listed as “Goroth’s ship” … on a second thought some sketches from that ship would be great too 🙂
Thank you very much for taking your valuable time to find the images !
OK I know the one,,, I do know where that one is and will get it for you
John, was there a reason why the Columbia was seen docked in a “three-fingered” drydock, and the Enterprise was seen in a five-fingered dock, like in “Broken Bow”? The difference between the two types of docks can be seen here:
http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/schematics/prefed_ships.htm
Where there any more major differences between the two types of docks?
The early BoP was absolutely cool, there were some great scenes featuring the ship and it also appeared in the Enterprise Season 2 DVD menues, which was pretty cool, gave us some more cool shots of the ship to look at.
It was just to show difference. We all hate to see shots and elements reused and called something new and different when it’s in fact not, so being conscious of this the Eden boys added the extra time to make something new exclusive for the NX-02
I love that last concept tagged “opening-credit-ship”, which you’ve referred to as a”loose tie in for design sake”. The overall shape reminds me a bit of the Icarus from Planet Of The Apes, and I can see elements in the design that went into both the “Emmette” and the “OV-165” in the ENT title sequence. Are anymore concept drawings of either floating around?
Hi John,
I just found this blog of yours, and to answer your question. I built the 3d model of the Klingon ship. 🙂